vindictive
adjUK, US /vɪnˈdɪk.tɪv/
Etymology From Latin vindicta (“vengeance”) + -ive. Contrast Latin vindicātīvus.
1
Having a tendency to seek revenge when wronged, vengeful.
- Lord Avonleigh was an angry rather than a vindictive man. Vindictiveness requires more energy of character than he possessed. Indeed, it may be questioned whether he would of himself have taken the violent measures of the preceding evening.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 326:
- The vindictive mockery in her voice made his brain quiver.1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XVIII, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC:
1 more example
- The victors will exact vindictive penalties and the losers of course will undertake to pay, but none of them realizes that money is going to do the most extraordinary things to them when they begin upon that.1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Introduction: The Dream Book of Dr. Philip Raven”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 5:
2
Obsolete Punitive.
- Derived terms
- vindictively, vindictiveness, vindictive protectiveness
- Related terms
- vindicate, vindication, vindicator